Apparatus for treating fibre container bodies



March 21, 1967 c oc T 3,310,653

APPARATUS FOR TREATING FIBRE CONTAINER BODIES Filed Nov. 12, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 20/1/1442 P401 (fid/(fff y, Ra a;

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March 21, 1967 o. P. CROCKETT APPARATUS FOR TREATING FIBRE CONTAINER BODIES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 12, 1963 v y m E z T6 m K m 2 M a: M5 w A /\||ll| lk.llll 4 P m 4 M J D. P. CROCKETT March 21, 1967 APPARATUS FOR TREATING FIBRE CONTAINER BODIES I5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 12, 1963 INVENTOR. .fid/V/ILD PAUL (/PUKAHI QZM/ fig;

United States Patent 3,310,653 APPARATUS FOR TREATINGv FIBRE CONTAINER BODIES Donald Paul Crockett, Flossmoor, Ill., assignor to American Can Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Nov. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 322,655 3 Claims. (Cl. 219388) The present invention relates to the heating or aging of fibre container bodies and more particularly to apparatus for heating multi-ply fibre container bodies to rapidly effect the hardening or aging thereof by promoting an even distribution of water'throughout the body plies from the water base adhesive which is interposed between the plies and utilized in the side seam of the plies.

In the manufacture of multi-ply fibre container bodies having a water base adhesive between the plies and in the side seams thereof, and especially in the case of spirally wound container bodies, it has heretofore been necessary to store or age the bodies for periods of approximately twelve to twenty-four hours after the formation thereof in order to permit them toharden sufficiently to undergo a subsequent end seaming operation without collapsing. This aging procedure was required because shortly after the formation of the bodies, the water from the adhesive is concentrated in the body plies at the glue lines or at the portions thereof adjacent to the adhesive.

This concentration of water at the glue lines of the body plies tends to soften the container bodies to an extent that it is possible that some may collapse during the subsequent end seaming operation, thereby preventing a proper end seam and/or producing unsightly wrinkles in the outer or label ply. By storing the bodies at room temperature prior to the end seaming operation, as has heretofore been done, the adhesive or glue has been allowed to harden normally and the water concentrated at the glue lines of the body plies has been allowed to slowly migrate throughout the body stock, thereby resulting in an even distribution of water in the body stock which has been found to harden the body sufficiently to resist the end seaming operation without collapsing.

The general purpose of the instant invention is to provide apparatus for hardening the container bodies substantially immediately after the formation thereof so as to eliminate the long waiting or aging period which previously has been required prior to the end seaming operation. This is accomplished by heating the fibre container bodies to a predetermined temperature below the boiling point of water for a predetermined time. This increase in temperature causes the vapor pressure of the water concentrated at the glue lines of the body plies to increase and results in an increased dispersion rate of the water in the body plies. Thus, the water is rapidly dispersed throughout the body stock so as to be evenly distributed therein. This even distribution of water in the body stock results in a stronger and harder container body, since it has been found that for a given moisture content the body stock is harder when the water is evenly distributed therein than when the water is concentrated in certain portions thereof.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an apparatus for rapidly hardening multi-ply fibre container bodies shortly after the formation thereof.

Another object is the provision of apparatus for heating multi-ply fibre .container bodies shortly after the formation thereof to harden them sufliciently to resist a subsequent end seaming operation without collapsing.

A further object is to provide apparatus for heating multi-ply fibre container bodies substantially immediately after the formation thereof to rapidly harden the water base adhesive between the plies thereof and to effect an even distribution of water from the adhesive throughout the body plies of the container bodies. I

Still another object is the provision of such an apparatus which is capable of rapidly hardening or aging a large number of such container bodies and which can be incorporated in an assembly line operation.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it is better understood from the along line 33 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 44 in FIG. 2, with parts broken away; and

FIG. 5 is an end view of a multi-ply, spirally wound fibre container body which is an example of a type of container body to be hardened or aged by the apparatus of the instant apparatus.

As a preferred or exemplary embodiment of the instant invention, FIG. 1 illustrates a heating and conveying apparatus or elevator 10 comprising a supporting frame 12 having upwardly extending front andrear frame assemblies 13 and 14 respectively. A pair of driving sprockets 15 are rotatably mounted in transverse alignment on the supporting frame 12 adjacent the upper portion thereof, and two pairs of idler sprockets 16 and 17 are rotatably mounted in transverse alignment on the lower portion of the frame 12. A pair of endless conveyor chains 18 are mounted on the sprockets 15, 16 and 1.7 and are driven at the same speed in a counter-clockwise direction by the driving sprockets 15 which in turn are driven in any suitable manner (not shown). The conveyor chains 18 are provided with rollers 19 in spaced relation thereon which ride in U-shaped front and rear channels 20 which comprise portions of the upwardly extending frame assemblies 13 and 14, thereby insuring easy movement of the chains 18 around the frame members 13 and 14 (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

A plurality of support pockets or carrier members 21 are mounted on and equally spaced completely around the outer portion of the chains 18. As shown in FIGS. 2

through 4, each of the carrier members 21 comprises a substantially open framework composed of rigidly attached, rod-like elements 22 which are disposed in perpendicular relationship to define a first supporting platform 23, and rigidly attached, rod-like elements 24 disposed in perpendicular relationship to define a second supporting platform 25 which is perpendicular to the first supporting platform 23-. Each carrier member 21 also includes a support plate 26, to which the first supporting platform 23 and the second supporting platform 25 are rigidly attached. Each support plate 26. isseoured to the chains 18 by means of a pair of link members 27 rigidly attached thereto and mounted between adjacent links of the chains 18, these link members also functioning as bearings for the small shafts 29 on which the rollers 19 are mounted.

A winding mandrel 32 (FIGS. 1 and 2) is disposed adjacent to the front frame assembly 13 of the supporting frame 12, and a multi-ply tube 34 is spirally wound on the mandrel 32 and advances axially therealong in a conventional manner as shown in the United States patent to Magill 2,539,450.

As shown in FIG. 5, the spirally wound tube 34 is formed of four plies helically wound in the same direction and at the same angle and glued together with a water base adhesive such as dextrine (not shown) to form a moisture and water-proof body. These plies, reading from the inside out, comprise first, an inner liner 36, comprising thin aluminum foil or a suitable plastic layer prelaminated to a supporting paper backing and having its edges overlapped to form -a helical lap joint 38 to prevent the leakage therethrough of gases, grease or moisture. The liner 36 is glued to an inner body ply 40, formed of comparatively heavy stock such as chipboard or k-raft, and havings its edges buttcd to form a helical butt joint 42 which is circ-umferentially offset from the lap joint 38 of the liner ply 36. The inner body ply 40 in turn is adhesively secured to an outer body ply 44, the spiral edges of which are butted to form a helical butt joint 46 which is circumferentially offset-from the butt joint 42 of the inner body ply 41). The outer body ply 44 is adhesively secured to a label ply 48 having the spiral edges thereof lapped to form a helical lap joint 50. The label ply 48 preferably is made of a thin layer of aluminum foil or a suitable plastic which is prelaminated to a strengthening paper backing.

Since an adhesive such as dextrine having a large percentage of water (approximately 60%) is utilize-d between the plies of the spirally 'WOlllld tube 34, and because the body plies are made of clipboard or kraft which readily absorbs water, there is a concentration of water from the adhesive in the body plies at the portions thereof immediately adjacent to the adhesive shortly after the formation of the spirally wound tube 34. This concentration of water at the glue lines of the body plies tends to soften the tube 34 to an extent that it is possible that container bodies out from the tube 34 may collapse under the axial pressures exerted on them during a subsequent end seaming operation if it takes place shortly after the tube winding operation on the mandrel 32.

In order to alleviate this concentration of water in the body plies and thus to harden the tube 34 prior to the end seaming operation, the tube 34 is cut along lines of severance S (see FIG. 2) into individual sections 37 as it is advanced along the mandrel 32, and these sections 37 are then fed into the heating and conveying apparatus of the instant invention along a downwardly inclined ramp or runway 52 which is supported on a frame 43 and is disposed adjacent to and below the end of the mandrel 32 (see FIG. 2)

The severance of the tube 34 is effected by a reciprocating cutting tool 54 which is mounted adjacent the end of the mandrel 32 and is adapted to engage the axially advancing, spirally wound tube 34 at predetermined times and to advance axially therewith to cut predetermined lengths or sections 37 from the tube 34. A cutting mechanism of this type is conventional and forms a part of the tube winding apparatus.

Each of the individual tube sections 37 may be of a length comprising one or more container bodies C, and, for the purpose of illustration, the tube sections 37 are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 as consisting of three container bodies C, which subsequently are to be separated from each other along lines of division which are designated by the letter D.

As the tube sections 37 advance beyond the end 51 of the mandrel 32, they engage an upstanding end wall 55 secured to the ramp 52 and then fall onto the ramp 52 which is inclined downwardly towards the front frame assembly 13 of the supporting frame 12 (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The tube sections 3'7 roll downwardly on the ramp 52 between upright guides 56 rigidly mounted thereon and, as the tube sections 37 roll beyond the end of the ramp 52, they are received on the supporting platform 23 of the carrier members 21 mounted on the conveyor chains 18, the supporting platforms 23 being of a length less than that of the tube sections 37 for a reason to be described hereinafter. It is noted that the speed of travel of the conveyor chains 18 preferably is synchronized with the speed of travel of the tube sections 37 on the ramp 52 so that each successive carrier member 21 normally will receive a tube section 37 from the ramp 52.

Since the frame member 13 is inclined towards the frame member 14, each tube section 37 received on the carrier member 21 rolls (to the left as seen in FIG. 1) on its respective supporting platform 23 until it engages the substantially vertically extending supporting platform 25 which is perpendicular to the platform 23. The inclination of the frame member 13 and thus that of the supporting platforms 23 retains each of the tube sections 37 on its respective carrier member 21 while it is traveling upwardly therewith.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, any axial movement of the tube sections 37 on the carrier members 21 which may be caused by vibration, bouncing, etc., is limited by rods or stop members 57 of arcuate cross section which are disposed on either side of the carrier members 21 and are in parallel relationship with the conveyor chains 18. The rods 57 preferably are formed of any suitable smooth material which will not damage the ends of tube sections 37 coming into contact therewith, and are rigidly attached to support brackets 58 rigidly mounted on the front frame assembly 13 and to support brackets 59 rigidly mounted on the rear frame assembly 14 (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

As the tube sections 37 travel upwardly on the carrier members 21, they pass through an auxiliary frame 60 (FIGS. 1 and 2) which is rigidly attached to the front frame assembly 13. The auxiliary frame 60 comprises an upwardly extending mounting plate 61 which is substantially parallel to and laterally spaced from the front frame assembly 13. A plurality or bank of heating units 62, preferably of the infra-red type, are removably mounted on the inner surface of the mounting plate 61 and are electrically fired by a suitable source of power (not shown) connected to the conductors 64 and 65. It is noted that, alternatively, the infra-red heating units 62 could be gasfired, or the heating units 62 could be of any other suitable type other than the infra-red type, without departing from the'scope of the instant invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, a corrugated reflecting plate 66, preferably of aluminum or any other suitable reflective material, and of a width and length approximately the same as that of the bank of heating units 62, is rigidly mounted on the front frame assembly 13 in facing relationship to the heating units 62. The heating units 62 and the reflecting plate 66, therefore, define a heating chamber H therebetween through which the tube sections 37 are conveyed by the carrier members 21 on the conveyor chains 18.

The temperature to which the tube sections 37 are raised in the heating chamber H is controlled by the amount of radiation from each of the infra-red heating units 62, the number of heating units 62 utilized in the chamber H, the spacing of the tube sections 37 from the heating units 62, and the speed at which the tube sections 37 are conveyed on the carrier members 21 through the chamber H. Preferably, the tube sections 37 are raised to a temperature which is suflicient to substantially increase the vapor pressure of the water concentrated at the glue lines of the body plies and thus to increase the dispersion rate of the water in the body plies. It is noted that the temperature of interior portions of the tube sections 37 in the chamber H should be kept below the boiling point of water, since any steam formed from the water in the body plies may cause unsightly blistering of the plies and possible damage to the helical seams of the plies in the tube sections 37.

The increased dispersion rate of the water concentrated in the body plies results in an even distribution of the water throughout the body plies as the tube sections 37 leave the chamber H. Since, for a given moisture content, it has been found that a body ply is stronger and harder Whfin .1 lIlQiS'tUIQ is evenly distributed throughout the ply rather than concentrated in certain portions thereof, the tube sections 37 are hardened in the heating chamber H to an extent that they can resist subsequent end seaming operations without collapsing.

It will be noted that the tube sections 37 do not rotate as they move upwardly through the heating chamber H, since they are completely supported on the carrier members 21, the reason for this being that it would be undesirable to have the tube sections 37 in rolling contact with any stationary guide bars which would be permanently positioned in the heating chamber H and would thus become intensely hot and cause localized overheating of the tube sections 37. Because the sections 37 do not rotate, one of their sides always faces the bank of heating units 62, whereas their other sides, which may be termed their 5 rear sides, always face away from them.

The reflecting plate 66, therefore, is provided to insure that the radiation from heating units 62 is substantially uniformly received by the tube sections 37 in the heating chamber H to thereby provide a substantially uniform temperature of the water in the body plies. They function to do this by reflecting the radiated energy from the heating units 62 which passes between the spaced tube sections 37 onto the rear sides of the tube sections 37. This reflecting action is efficiently effected by the corrugated surfaces of the reflecting plate 62 which scatter the energy rays in all directions and thus insure that a substantial portion of this energy is directed against the rear sides of the sections 37, as indicated by the lines R in FIG. 4, which illustrate how the energy from the heating units is directed onto the rear sides of the tube sections 37. It will be noted that the carrier members 21 do not materially interfere with this reflecting process, since these members, being formed of thin rods 22, 24, are little more than open frames which intercept only a small portion of this reflected energy.

It is to be understood that, while twelve infra-red heating units 62 are shown in the drawings, any suitable number may be used depending on the amount of radiation or heat to which the tube sections 37 are to be exposed. Since the heating units 62' are removably mounted on the mounting plate 61, the number of heating units 62 to be utilized may be conveniently varied.

As the hardened tube sections 37 are conveyed upwardly on the carrier members 21 above the heating chamber H, they travel over the driving sprocket 15 and are retained on the carrier members 21 by a pair of retaining members or rods 68 of arcuate cross-section which are parallel to the path of the conveyor chains 18 (see FIG. 1). The retaining members 68 are formed of a suitable material which will not mechanically damage the outer surface of the tube sections 37 in contact therewith, and

are rigidly mounted on laterally extending flanges 70 (FIG. 3) on the spaced support brackets 59 mounted on the frame member 14. Since these members 68 are not in the heating chamber H, they do not become hot, and therefore do not cause localized overheating of the tube sections 37.

As each tube section 37 and its respective carrier member 21 leave the driving sprocket 15, the tube section 37 rolls downwardly on the supporting platform 25 of the carrier member 21 and falls onto the supporting platform 23 of the preceding carrier member 21. The tube section 37 is then downwardly conveyed on the supporting platform 23 of the preceding carrier member 21 and is retained thereon by the pair of retaining members or rods 68.

Each of the retaining members 68 is provided with a lower curved section 72 which is rigidly mounted on a frame 74 (see FIG. 1). A curved guide member or ramp 76 which is parallel to the curved sections 72 of the retaining members 68, is rigidly mounted at its upper end to the lowermost support bracket 59 on the frame member 14 and is supported at its lower end on the frame 74. The

upper portion of the guide member 76 is provided with a longitudinal slot therein (not shown) having a width greater than that of the carrier members 21 but less than that of the tube sections 37, whereby the tube sections 37 are deposited on the guide member 76 as their respective guide members 21 pass through the longitudinal slot of the guide member 76 and continue downwardly towards the idler sprockets 16 and 17. The tube sections 37 deposited on the guide members 76 roll downwardly thereon to another conveying means (not shown) leading to a final cutting means (not shown) wherein the heated tube sections 37 are cut into container bodies prior to an end seaming operation.

It is noted that the instant apparatus is not limited in use to the heating of only spirally wound container bodies. The instant apparatus may be utilized to heat treat in any manner any type of multi-ply fibre container body.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the ,parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for heating fibre container bodies having a plurality of plies which are joined together by a waterbased adhesive to a temperature which is below the boiling point of water but suificiently high to effect an even distribution of the water throughout the plies comprising; a conveyor, said conveyor including a pair of chains and rod-like members extending outwardly from said chains and spaced apart on each chain a distance considerably greater than the diameter of said bodies, means to drive said conveyor, radiant heating means disposed only along one side of and generally parallel to said conveyor, a reflecting surface positioned on the other side of said conveyor and generally parallel to said conveyor and said radiant heating means, said reflector surface having outwardly convex corrugations extending perpendicularly to the direction in which said conveyor is driven, and means to feed said bodies to said conveyor and place said bodies upon said rod-like members in a position parallel to said corrugations.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 'wherein said reflecting surface and said radiant heating means are upwardly inclined so that said conveyor moves said bodies upwardly between said radiant heating means and said reflector.

3. Apparatus defined in claim 2 wherein said means to feed said bodies to said conveyor includes a ramp positioned below said radiant heating means and said reflector, said ramp adapted to permit said bodies to roll thereon and onto said rod-like members.

References Cited by theExaminer UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,291,423 1/1919 Crary 219-461 X 1,553,392 9/1925 Orange 219347 2,073,582 3/1937 Morse 219347 2,134,474 10/ 1938 Gillespie 219-405 X 2,318,533 5/1943 Selvig 2l9347 2,346,880 4/1944 Urbain 34-4 X 2,354,658 8/1944 Barber 219349 2,705,913 4/1955 Bloom 219-388 X FOREIGN PATENTS 828,094 2/ 1960 Great Britain.

RICHARD M. WOOD, Primary Examiner. R. F. STAUBLY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR HEATING FIBRE CONTAINER BODIES HAVING A PLURALITY OF PLIES WHICH ARE JOINED TOGETHER BY A WATERBASED ADHESIVE TO A TEMPERATURE WHICH IS BELOW THE BOILING POINT OF WATER BUT SUFFICIENTLY HIGH TO EFFECT AN EVEN DISTRIBUTION OF THE WATER THROUGHOUT THE PLIES COMPRISING; A CONVEYOR, SAID CONVEYOR INCLUDING A PAIR OF CHAINS AND ROD-LIKE MEMBERS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID CHAINS AND SPACED APART ON EACH CHAIN A DISTANCE CONSIDERABLY GREATER THAN THE DIAMETER OF SAID BODIES, MEANS TO DRIVE SAID CONVEYOR, RADIANT HEATING MEANS DISPOSED ONLY ALONG ONE SIDE OF AND GENERALLY PARALLEL TO SAID CONVEYOR, A RE- 